Winning competition entry for the redevelopment of an urban area, including the transformation of an existing bus depot to integrate a mixture of uses including office, retail space and residential units.

This project is part of the Municipality of Rome’s initiative to redevelop a number of transport depots within the city in conjunction with local public transport authority ATAC. It involves the regeneration of a neighborhood with a weak identity but with good growth potential due to its location at the edge of the city centre. Labics’ aim therefore was to create a new centre for the local community, but also to increase its profile as a place of transition with privileged access to the city centre.

The development of the site has been designed to be porous, allowing good access to and from the site, encouraging the flow of people and demonstrating Labics’ philosophy that cities should be built around systems rather than as a series of objects. Public realm space is not seen as residual but is fully integrated with the built elements – so, for example, the basement space becomes the load-bearing structure for high level walkways as well as a pathway in itself. This creates a complex public space, rich in experience.

The project is articulated over different levels, with commercial activities and the public library at ground level, offices on the first floor and public spaces on top of those. Three buildings are suspended above this public area – one containing more offices and the other two for residential use. The residential buildings contrast in terms of their typology and external treatment. The first is a tower containing small and medium-sized flats, partially enclosed with a horizontal glass brise soleil. The second ‘villa’ building contains luxury duplex apartments and is clad with aluminum panels that provide flexible, adjustable sun shading and a playful, everchanging envelope.

Like many German cities, Bremen is confronted with an increasing housing shortage and a growing demand for affordable housing.

In response to this, the largest Bremen Housing Association, GEWOBA, has prudently taken on a supplementary extension to their existing 45,000 plus housing stock. In 2011, within the framework of the competition “ungewöhnlich Wohnen” (unusual living), five exemplary lots from a postwar housing area were chosen to investigate the adaptability of the area. The proposals considered contemporary demands for affordable and flexible housing that could offer manifold inhabitant configurations. These housing areas in the Gartendstadt Süd of Neustadt Bremen, offer generous green open areas formed by homogenous four-storey housing blocks.

The high adaptability and multiplicity of the modular prefab timber system makes the Bremer-Punkt a pilot project for supplementary extensions to social housing on an urban scale.

The urban niches are activated by the punctual integration of four-storey timber cubes. With a surface area of only 13.35 x 13.35m, the cube houses react sensibly to the existing buildings, granting the character of the green open spaces of the estate to keep their appearance. The new buildings are designed as a modular timber prefab system. This system allows flexible layout possibilities for site specific needs and responds to individual demands. The houses can adapt to differing apartment combinations, surface area, circulation, facade, and building form requirements.

In February 2017 the first three Bremen-Cubes will be completed in the Gartenstadt Süd.

With a 44-58m2 living area (two to three rooms), these smaller apartments succeed in providing affordable housing with a higher than average standard of living, timber construction system, generous window openings, spacious private outdoor areas, and optimised south-west orientation. The new buildings present an upgrade to the housing stock and the local area, and afford existing tenants intergenerational equity, specifically for those requiring barrier-free design solutions. A collective living project is housed in the third Bremer Cube, adding new energy to the area.

From the conceptual idea through to the finished and final serial housing typology, an intensive design process has been applied.

The cognisance of the planning process for the prototype was evaluated and developed with regards to construction methods, site development and spatial efficiency optimisation of the new constraints. The Bremen-Cube has been worked through as a multiplicitous, serial housing typology. It realises contrasting housing mixes with predetermined apartment layouts of different sizes and organisation. The new addition offers more layout variability and more useable living space. The optimised building envelope provides the building with a good energy efficient surface-area-to-volume ratio.

At present there are seven Bremen-Cubes in planning and realisation, in the districts Neustadt, Kattentum and Schwachhausen – followed by more buildings to be implemented.

The Bremen-Cubes can accommodate up to eleven apartments per building. The floor plan kit showcases a catalogue of twenty-two apartment typologies, which have the possibility to be combined with each other in over sixty variations.

The serial building typology compliments the existing housing with new flexible and barrier-free floor plans. The apartment sizes range from a one-room apartment of 30m², to a six room apartment with 138m².The multiplicity and customisation of the apartment configurations ensures that each site is able to offer an individual proposal to differing user-groups. All the apartments are barrier-free and two apartment typologies are fully wheelchair accessible.

The open plan layout allows for multifaceted living models; living and working are equally conceivable as are many possibilities of family constellations, single households or collective living forms.

Within the context of current affordable housing demands and discussions on living space requirements, the Bremen-Cube offers flexible and site-specific proposals for public or privately funded models, providing a high social mix and intergenerational equity. Nineteen of the twenty-two apartment typologies fulfil the requirements of the “Bremer Wohnraum-Förderungsprogramms” (Bremen housing funding board). The third Bremen-Cube will be realised in cooperation with the “Martinsclub Bremen e.V.” as an exemplary community housing project. The project looks to house a heterogenous mix of young people and elderly, disabled, refugees and low-income persons and families together. The GEWOBA has complied a floorplan catalogue of the versatile combination possibilities of the housing typologies.

A full height glazed loggia is connected with the kitchen, creating a spatial extension, which becomes an integral part of the living area.

This combination of loggia and kitchen creates a high quality living space, where cooking, dining, playing, and gardening are made possible. The green living quality is accentuated on a variety of scales through the careful placement of the cubes, as well as with the large facade openings with their immediate connection to the outdoor vegetation. The open circulation balcony is a meeting point for the inhabitants, and forms a node between inside and outside. The second generation will offer higher flexibility for different apartment typologies and sizes. Through the use of large sliding doors, rooms can be closed off, divided or extended according to need.

The abundant, playfully arranged square openings reflect the differentiated internal living arrangements of the cube-houses.

A combination of the wooden windows and timber loggias reviews the timber facade construction of the Bremen-Cube. The recessed volumes and the large openings animate the contrast between the massive cube and the light appearance of the facade. Illustrated in the individual facades of each new building the Bremen-Cube develops a site specific customised character, which contrasts to the postwar housing estates. The building’s envelope can be produced in plaster, or as timber facade under specific circumstances.

Orientation Through Colour

The specific identity of the individual Bremen-Cubes is accentuated through a colour concept.

The city wide extended Bremer Grün marks out the first three Bremen-Cubes in nuanced gradations. Loggias, entrance thresholds, a sculptural landscape object close to the entrance, are accentuated though the use of colour. The signifying object could be a large rock or an old tree stump. The playful intervention gives a distinctive identity and an orientation marker to each building for the inhabitants as well as for the surrounding area.

The Bremen-Cubes are a modular construction system conceived and made up of predominantly prefabricated building elements.

This type of construction system allows for the realisation of differing floor plans in size and organisation. The standardised system is suited to the building being erected in the shortest possible time and with minimal construction site organisation and disturbance. The load bearing outer wall elements are made in a timber frame system. The floor elements are reinforced concrete or optimised Timber-Concrete Composite (TCC) elements. The circulation areas are conceived in reinforced concrete which strengthens the building’s horizontal loads and serve as the primary escape route. This can be designed as either an inner core or as an open circulation balcony core.

In comparison to commonly used commercial construction methods, considerably less “grey energy” is consumed in the complete life-cycle process of timber: from raw materials to material waste disposal. The Timber-Concrete Composite floor system has a weight reduction of 50%, and a reduction of CO2 emissions of up to 90%. The Bremen-Cube will receive a “NaWoh” certificate, from the “Vereins zur Förderung der Nachhaltigkeit im Wohnungsbau e.V.” (German NGO for the advancement of housing sustainability). The assessment criteria takes into consideration socio-cultural factors, functionality, technical factors, as well as life cycle costs, long-term value, environmental compatibility and health impact assessment.

The energy concept is based on a highly insulated building envelope, which roughly correlates to a passive house standard, fulfilling the “standard KfW Effizienzhaus 55”.

Energy and water usage is almost completely covered by the individual house’s solar panel facility and a heat pump with an accumulator. The ventilation system is designed over a central exhaust-air facility on the roof, which draws in clean air through the trickle vent system in the window frames. Domestic hot water is powered by local electric water heaters in each apartment, and underfloor heating with low supply temperatures helps additionally to save energy while providing comfort. The Bremen-Cube fulfils the “Standard KfW Effizienzhaus 55” with a yearly primary energy use at a maximum of 55% of reference buildings from the “EnEV 2014” (German energy conservation regulations).

Economical Factors

Long-term developement to serial production.

Designing tailored solutions for different locations and demands by means of generating positiv synergestic effects, requires an extenisive development phase. The experiences with the first realized prototypes serve the further development up to the serial maturity. Once this step is completed, the number of “unknown” is reduced. The building types are well-known to the authorities, the planning takes advantage of repetition and the construction process is going more fluent.

The evaluation process continues until these synergy effects can be included.

The Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center (PAEC) puts cultural arts at the heart of urban vitality, establishing a core identity and focal point for a rapidly growing, richly diverse community. This multi-functional 46,013-square-foot center and adjacent civic park are positioned to catalyze ongoing development and investment in the city for years to come, ensuring Federal Way’s vibrant future in the region. The PAEC opened to the community on August 19.

Combining a 716-seat multipurpose performing arts theater, regional conference center, and future hotel co-development, the approximately $32.7 million project serves both public and private uses, leveraging market synergy and operational efficiency to provide a sustainable business model.

The new Center’s design capitalizes on the prominent downtown location of its 4-acre site, introducing pedestrian connectivity to surrounding uses, as well as new public gathering areas for an active urban presence. Expansive windows on the building’s south and west facades provide dramatic views to downtown Federal Way and Mount Rainier—linking inside and outside activities, while celebrating their remarkable natural setting. A flexible outdoor public space connects the Center to the recently completed Town Center Park and reinforces their shared role in bringing the community together.

“This project is about integrating and connecting with the community, catalyzing activity in and around the building, and focusing new energy to positively impact the public realm,” notes Wendy Pautz, AIA, Partner at LMN Architects. “With the transformative power of the arts, we are creating a civic asset that supports the cultural, social, and economic aspirations of the community—a place that will become essential to those who live here.”

The building represents a hybrid typology—a merging of theater and conference center that strikes a balance between the needs of both while enabling each to function independently. The building’s sculptural form derives from the spatial requirements of its program. Inside, spaces strategically maximize the interrelationships between areas. Meeting rooms, and even the lobby, are morphable and sub-dividable—capable of opening to one another as needed.

The signature, two-tiered theater space is a dramatic mix of natural wood and red-painted walls. Laser-cut wood panels wrap the auditorium seating area. Solid wood panels enclose the stage itself, gradually giving way to panels of increasing porosity as they extend away from the stage. As the wood panels slowly diminish, the red-painted walls of the circulation space become more evident, visually interweaving color and material.

The multipurpose venue is designed to accommodate theatrical, musical, dance, artistic, and spoken-word performances. Conferences, seminars, meetings, and other assembly events will also take place in both the auditorium and the adjoining 8,000-square-feet of event facilities. A catering kitchen and other support facilities will serve the entire Center’s wide-ranging purposes.

Broad expanses of glass—20-feet-tall—open the building to its surroundings and allow the community to look inside. On the outside, metal panels use three different textures in four different colors to create a pattern that divides the building into horizontal bands. These textures and colors not only animate the exterior envelope, but also provide a unique expression of the programs within.

The Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center will provide a home for six key arts organizations: Federal Way Chorale, Federal Way Symphony, Federal Way Youth Symphony Orchestra, Jet Cities Chorus, Harmony Kings Chorus and the Tacoma City Ballet. These groups represent performers throughout the community who will soon have the chance to be “resident” artists for the first time.

Danish architects COBE and Belgian architects BRUT reveal the winning design for Place Schuman in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the heart of the European Quarter, in between the main institutions of the European Union, Place Schuman constitutes the entrance to the EU. The project transforms a heavily trafficked roundabout into an urban space and meeting point. Inspired by the shape of the European Parliaments’ hemicycle, a reflective roof covering an urban agora unites all citizens and institutions of the EU and transforms the European Quarter from a city for cars into a city for people.

Danish architects COBE and Belgian architects BRUT have won the international competition to design Place Schuman in Brussels, Belgium. The competition was launched in December 2015 by the Brussels Government. An independent jury of experts, presided by Brussels Chief Architect Kristiaan Borret, made its choice, confirmed yesterday by Minister-President of the Brussels Region Rudi Vervoort and Brussels Minister of Mobility Pascal Smet.

From roundabout to urban agora

Today, Place Schuman is a heavily trafficked roundabout in the heart of Brussels. Surrounded by the main institutions of the European Union, including the European Council and the European Commission, Place Schuman constitutes the entrance to the EU. In the future, it will be transformed into an urban space and meeting point for the entire EU. The project consists of an agora covered with an iconic roof structure reflecting the square and the people below. A funnel shaped opening in the roof frames the surrounding institutions of the European Union on the square. Surrounding the agora, a large pedestrian area with a continuous pavement will connect Place Schuman to the neigbouring Cinquantenaire Park and the bridge of Rue de la Loi over Chaussée d’Etterbeek.

From roundabout to urban agora – COBE and BRUT to design the entrance to the European Union Image: COBE and BRUT 2

“A parliament is usually closed-off to the public, but Place Schuman will be permanently accessible, embracing democracy and knowledge sharing. Here, all citizens of the EU will be united under one roof. The roof reflects the square and the people below, creating a meeting place between nationalities, cultures, languages and genders. The agora underneath the roof will be designed as concentric circles, inspired by the European Parliaments’ hemicycle. The circles continue in the surrounding pavement, emphasizing Place Schuman as the center of European democracy.”

”Place Schuman shows the change this city is making. We are going from a city for cars to a city for people! Schuman will become a real urban square where residents and visitors can meet. Finally this emblematic spot is given the quality and look it deserves. It is now up to the architects to elaborate their projects together with the residents and the European institutions.

“The winning project as proposed by COBE / BRUT shows a fine craftsmanship as it combines the overall complexity of this mission within a consistent and ambitious project. The new Place Schuman will become a pleasant and at the same time welcoming area. A federating project, just as Europe itself.”

Additional studies for the design will be carried out by COBE and BRUT with a view to submitting a permit by the end of 2018 and starting the works in 2019.

Easton Helsinki, a 66,000m2 shopping centre by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki is the first phase in a larger urban plan and looks to celebrate the identity and culture of Helsinki’s eastern districts. In its architectural and commercial concepts the project idealistically and physically centres itself around food, bringing together local vendors and businesses at the heart of the shopping centre. However, the project also holds a rich production history – it has been as much about process as it has about the final result. Centralised BIM models have formed the core of the workflow and design process since day one, a request of the client Kesko. Whilst shopping centres are inherently complex projects, workflow on all levels, from the design desks of individual end-users to contractors on-site, was managed through a centralised model; whether it be involving the façade system or the environmental conditions of individual shops.

Easton offers 30,000 m2 of rentable commercial floor space which is set to bring 40 businesses into the area, with the emphasis being put on healthy foods and creating an everyday social atmosphere around this. The size and complexity of these programmes and involved parties brought a challenging timetable to all levels of construction and design. To manage this, template-based workflows were used which enabled quick design cycles and the efficient transfer of output data. This arrangement of working meant that many processes could happen simultaneously which massively boosted the efficiency of the project. Whilst construction work was ongoing, Kesko could use the comprehensive BIM model as a way of negotiation and planning future retail spaces with prospective tenants who were able to accurately present future operating environments. One of its primary uses was indeed as a decision tool for current and future stakeholders, clients and partners. Kesko themselves use BIM to model their shops, which can be added into the central design and construction model of the shopping centre.

The creation and management of the model was in itself an impressive feat. The model was under the central control of Haahtela-rakennuttaminen Oy, but each separate contractor would be required to update it as changes were made. The model was used to coordinate the building services, structures and architecture during the design process. Then, during construction, various sub-contractors were able to inspect the model and make decisions based on it, before installations actually began. The thoroughness of the model allowed them to engage with the design in more progressive ways. For example, the HVAC designers were able to inspect the pipe and duct installations up close, before their construction, in virtual reality. If alterations were made on site, then the BIM model would also be updated to reflect this. As a result, the end model is a direct representation of the building on site and is technically correct. The client set this as a key requirement in order for the model to be used in the future for maintenance and development purposes.

At first glance the most striking feature and most clearly a result of computer modelling, is the gently undulating façade which evolves the local red-brick aesthetic into an array of 100,000 ceramic and aluminium rods backed by a steel structure. Geometry specialists Geometria modelled and were able to accurately map each façade element, its angle, length and colour, across the huge undulating façade, initially using algorithms based on Rhinoceros and Grasshopper but which then fed into the centralised model. The data from the structural models entered a back-and-forward process between the design studio and the model shop – always being fed back into the central model – eventually becoming realised as pre-assembled units ready to go on site.

The adoption and integration of technologies was widely appreciated amongst all contractors. Output data from changes to design elements was virtually real-time as structural and elemental designers worked in the same model environment with Tekla Model Sharing. Frame options were compared with Tekla Structures and Vico Schedule Planner, and the designers of each component were able to pull information such as element weights and locations obtained from the model. The direct result of this was that the façade frame, the structure was optimised for the most effective timetable and best costs, and allowed for the safe installation of the frame. Changes could also be made without the interruption of the rest of the project.

The opinion of all partners, upon completion of the project, was that the transparency and integration of the design process was hugely successful and allowed everyone to approach all challenges and respond to them in a noticeably clearer and more organised manner than a more traditional construction environment. The obvious testament to this is that the complex project was completed according to the agree timetable – which is vital for a commercial project of this size – not only this but, the project was awarded the Tekla BIM Award 2017.

Easton is not a one-off for Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, the integration of BIM and technology has been a core component of the design and construction process for a long time, and as such the technologies have become well established within the office. The office even won the Tekla BIM Award 2012 for their work on the Derby Business Park, Espoo, putting them at the head of their field. Many of these technologies now come ‘as-standard’ for all projects, which allows the architects to explore other ways of design and representation in emerging technologies; already designers, clients and partners can experience their designs in Virtual Reality.

Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) and Pinnacle International have unveiled their design for the over four million square-foot property at One Yonge. The design was led by Micheal De Cotiis, President and CEO of Pinnacle International and David Ponatrini, Founding Principal of HPA, who consider this project a successful demonstration of collaboration between the City, Waterfront Toronto, Developer, and Architect.

The development, on Toronto’s waterfront, rethinks the typical mix of residential, commercial and retail space found in Toronto. It will be comprised of five new buildings and the re-clad existing Toronto Star building, all within two city blocks. The north block includes three residential towers (at 95, 80 and 65 storeys) with hotel, affordable housing, community centre and extensive retail. The south block includes two new office towers (at 35 and 22 storeys) including extensive retail on the first two levels, and the current Toronto Star building which will be maintained and re-clad. Designed to densify and enhance the urban streetscape, the project links to public transit, improves and widens sidewalks, and provides prioritized pedestrian and cyclist access with north-south and east-west mid-block connections.

By connecting to the climate-controlled PATH, Toronto’s downtown underground pedestrian walkway, Pinnacle One Yonge will give residents and visitors direct access to Union Station, the regional train and bus terminal and the existing Union subway station. The project will act as a gateway to the new waterfront community still under redevelopment, with a design that strives to set a new standard for dense, urban revitalization.

“We are looking forward to developing this landmark community on Toronto’s revitalized waterfront”, said Mr. De Cotiis. Phase 1, the 65-storey tower, is scheduled to go to market in the coming months with subsequent phases expected to follow soon after.

Pinnacle International is one of North America’s leading builders of luxury condominium residences, master-planned communities, hotels and commercial developments. Based in Vancouver, BC, Pinnacle has been involved in the development, design, construction and management of their projects for over 40 years. With this experience and expertise, Pinnacle has completed over 10,000 residences to help create and enrich neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Toronto and San Diego. Pinnacle has development plans for an additional 10,000 residential suites located in various master-planned, mixed-use locations throughout North America.

Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) is a full-service Canadian firm devoted to producing work of lasting value. Siamak Hariri and David Pontarini founded the Toronto office in 1994 motivated by a shared commitment to design quality. Today their 120-person practice has a diversely scaled, award-winning portfolio reflecting the HPA mission to craft architectural and urban solutions that exceed expectations, without excess. David Pontarini, Partner-in-Charge of Pinnacle One Yonge, focuses on building better cities through quality urban developments that channel the best aspects of their site and program into finely executed architectural and public realm designs. Over the past 31 years, he has built an award-winning portfolio of complex, variously scaled, urban high-rise and mixed-use developments in cities across Canada and the United States. David Pontarini’s design-led approach to smart development solutions contributes to his reputation as one of Toronto’s leading architects, and to the recognition of HPA, by the RAIC, as winners of the 2013 Architectural Firm Award.

A new skate facility for the city of Navarcles is conceived as a plaza. Despite a low budget to begin with, this facility for skateboarding is considered as an opportunity to contribute in the urban development of the city, transforming an old sports area into a new public park. Now being an Olympic sport, the project rather departs from the fact of street skateboarding being a common and compatible reality on streets and plazas of our cities, a collateral product of urban public space design. Viewed in this light, the project pursues to also structure its immediate surroundings, to set an effect beyond of what’s strictly built and functional for skateboarding.

From this perspective, a field study is first made to recognize which plazas and public spaces have entailed Barcelona to become the international mecca of this urban side of the sport, in some sort of an unaware effect after the 92 Olympics transformation of the Catalan capital and its innovative design policy of the so-called “plazas duras”. The project features real “street” obstacles inspired by some of these iconic Barcelona designs, including replicas from the original “Paral.lel” platforms, the ledges at “Arc de Triomf” or the granite curbs at MACBA.

So the new skate facility is conceived as a PLAZA, a SKATEPLAZA. Standard public space materials are used to build it, such as pedestrian pavements or massive granite ledges and “hubbas”. The development of the plaza extends and shapes the new park around: Ramps and banks turn into soft green slopes. A new line of trees provides shadow for the skaters, but also defines the park space and a new façade for the industrial surroundings. Even the higher level of the skateplaza serves as a stage towards the park, for occasional city events and for the Rock’n’Board skate festival, organized annually by the local skaters.

The green slopes also chase to deter any unwanted corners or graffiti, avoiding vertical facings or the need of protective handrails. The great granite blocks subtly enclose the perimeter of the space for skateboarding.

The diversity and contrasts which is offered by the physical and psychological context of the building site, provoked a certain conceptual objective which goes through every part of the exterior and interior design composition. Aim was to sustain a quantum quality of being here and there at the same time, holding the design at the degree when opposite meanings blend into a single matter. Though the layout and the volumes of the Building were intentionally chopped, to achieve a human scale, it still has the large scale elements like a dynamic shape of a portico or a monolithic surface on the facade of a tower which provide a certain feeling of monumentality.

The urban role of the architecture was to serve as a visual bridge or a geometric modulation from the neighboring group of high office buildings to the low rhythm of historical housing, standing on the other flank. The building is shaped also to integrate the group of cypress trees the architecture attempts to embrace and honor the vegetation by serving as a giant planter for them. Name of the hotel is derived from that small grove of threes. The building features a specially fabricated perforated fibreconcrete curved panels on facade.

The interior of the rooms – is a fresh modernist surrounding, where most of the furniture and objects are fitted to the walls like in a yacht. Interiors are left without any objects of art or any other visually descriptive or figurative image. Idea is to put the guest as a human being with his possible activities in the center of the world around him. Composition of the inner space is never full without a guest living/acting in it.

Hotel features a rooms with spatial and planar experimentations to deliver an unique esthetic experience as being in one of the most unusual and strange possible places. example is a room which originates from a historical alcova, more a boudoir like central bed surrounded with a walk able paths not like a conventional hotel suite Purified minimalistic look of the room is disturbed by large screens with from the films projected in front of the bed. Yielding three different colors to the corridors is attempt of experiment with shifting the genres from modernity to surreal.

The restaurant is presented as a kind of cocktail with disconnected esthetic motifs similar to the striking flashes of memories that appear after a great party. Play of colorful shades projected from the bottles lighted from behind the fabric wall are presented in the lounge area. the bar is coated with automobile wrapping foil so that the glossy copper surfaces are deep and vibrant.

A residential building on a prominent urban development site at a corner by the Helmut-Zilk Park is setting a vitalising accent on the new district of the Central Railway Station – the contest-winning project of the architecture collective feld72. The building is positioned opposite the already existing Sonnwendviertel educational campus, its striking corner situation creating a landmark within the developing urban district. The building typology harks back to the characteristics of old city buildings, enabling a rich diversity of uses. One of its main focuses is on the practical options offered by the “Stadtsockelzone”, the ground floor area, promoting revitalisation of the neighbourhood.

Besides being a pulsating access to the city, the project “PARK ATRIUM – Let’s dance!“ stands for joy in movement, healthy life, creative work and urban home-living.

The project is a result of the cooperation with the property developer Kallco. The main reason for winning the competition besides the quality of the architecture is feld72’s utilisation proposals for the ground floor, a dynamic concept involving a children’s dance studio and a vegetarian delivery service. This usage concept is supplemented by modular offices on the first floor. The Quartiershaus unfolds as a magnetic centre of attraction, arousing interest and drawing people to the quarter, guaranteeing usage at all times of the day and year.

The building’s clear structure with its staggered arrangement of rooftops gives it a landmark appearance and puts a focus on the park. A energy-infused interplay with the urban space is generated. The ground floor with its accentuation as public space and the office floor above it form a common socle; the residential floors above are connected through the proscenium, which from the outside is clearly legible as a space. The variety of uses is evident.

The proscenium is central element and an exceptional feature, composed of vertically stacked spaces and combining the functions of access and circulation as well as communal rooms. Variously exploitable rooms create space for the house community and visitors. As a homage to the traditional meeting point of the bassenas – the communal water-tap – associated with the Gründerzeit – the time of the industrial expansion in the mid-to-late nineteenth century – the proscenium so to speak lifts a curtain to a social and public space. Meanwhile it transmits a clear identity and creates not only orientation but also an interactive space between inside and outside. The aura radiating from the multicoloured rooms generates a reciprocally inviting gesture relating it to the urban context. At night it acts as “lantern” and a positive influence on the public urban space.

The surroundings and the activities in the building are basis for a mutually inviting relationship. Threshold-less connections unite interior and exterior. This is supported by a transparent ground floor. Changing floor materials mark different degrees of openness to the public space. These open borders encourage encounter and cultural diversity.

The design of the free spaces is based on the collaboration with Susanne Kallinger and YEWO Landscapes. Next to the arcade connections on the ground floor the forecourt with public stage for the dance studio extends to the park. Fluid transitions sustain a spatial continuum of atrium and green area. This free and easy sequence forms communicative hubs and interfaces for neighbours. The free space is actively and openly integrated into its surroundings. A vitalised roof landscape with terraces for communal and private use adds a signal effect to the building. Evolving here is a building with a special identity as an address.

Conceptualised by the character of its setting and the need for more green areas in today’s urban living, Condolette Pixel Sathorn is the result of the harmonisation between urban lifestyle and secluded green environment albeit it is located in the heart of Sathorn, Bangkok’s most vibrant CBD.

The concept of ‘PIXEL’ derives from the fact that today we, knowingly or not, live in ‘a pixel world’ in which many things we touch, watch, hear, download, share or have any kind of consumption is wholly or partially transcribed through the process of pixelisation. This socio-economic assumption then inspires the architectural concept of the project in which the planning of the buildings, communal amenity area and facade design are strategically pixelated in order to serve aesthetic and environmental purposes.

The project consists of two 8-storey residential buildings and a multi-storey car-park building. All three buildings are placed to encircle around a private courtyard in the middle of the site where common facilities such as swimming pools, gardens and a series of shallow ponds are located.

The ‘Pixel’ concept also plays a key role in the facade design of all the buildings. The solid sides of the residential buildings are made up of precast concrete panels with the pixel pattern. The protruding concrete pattern itself has three different depths in order to create the complexity of shadows on the facade, in which it also reduces heat gain from the sun. On the long facades, elevation outlines of certain units are three-dimensionally cantilevered out as shading elements in a diagonal shape. They are treated as such in accordance with the clear view from within the units looking down to the courtyard below.

The facade of the car-park building is also in line with the pixel concept by means of vertical garden. A series of randomly-placed pixels of creeper covers the entire frontage of its brutal concrete structure. Altogether, they create a truly livable environment in the midst of one of the most dynamic areas of the capital.